Anthony Walker is on a mission to build black wealth

Written by Margaret White

San Diego Native Anthony Walker has worked as an educator and with youth football camps before becoming a licensed life insurance agent. He says that once he started selling life insurance, he realized the life insurance companies behaved similarly to banks when it came to growing our money.

Education has always been important to San Diego native Anthony Walker. He has previously worked as an educator and with youth football camps. And while now he is a licensed life insurance agent, educating others is still an important mission to him.

Anthony founded Finance Fridays to educate the black community. “Finance Friday is essentially a quest to help the community understand business entrepreneurship and investing,” he said.

The lessons that Anthony shares are wisdom that his parents passed down to him. “I have an opportunity to highlight what my parents taught me and help me survive and thrive in different ways,” he said. He also says that he has a lot to thank for social media, not only for giving him the platform but also for being receptive to his lessons and message.

When I asked Anthony about why the black community seems to lack financial literacy, he pointed back to our history. “The reason we lack financial, financial literacy is because we lack finances. And the reason we like finances is because of the way that we’ve been shut out of society in a lot of different ways,” he explained. But it is time for us to reinvest into ourselves and our communities. “What the black community lacks really is investment. I feel like if there was strategic investment and strategic financial investment, then I think that we could, then I really think we could grow.” 

Anthony believes that the black community would benefit most from communal wealth. “We need to organize and turn business into industry.” He advocates for the black community to start investing in each other and to start buying assets together.

You might have seen his clothing line that has the Finance Fridays principles printed on them like “own your masters.” When I asked Anthony what inspired him to come up with the clothing line, his answer surprised me: “For almost everything you can think of, there is a paywall between information and people. I don’t want to do the same thing.” That’s what makes Anthony, Finance Fridays, and his mission truly honorable. His lessons are accessible and free to all. But for those who want to support him, you can buy a cute T-Shirt with a message you believe in.

As for future projects with Anthony and Finance Fridays, Anthony shared that he will be releasing a children’s book about building wealth in the black community. He didn’t want to share too many details but you can expect the release on Dec 26.